Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Applies Law Allowing Employee to Keep Handgun in Car on Company Property; Once Removed From the Car the Protection was Eliminated

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Applies Law Allowing Employee to Keep Handgun in Car on Company Property; Once Removed From the Car the Protection was Eliminated

      In a decision rendered earlier this month by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, it applied the Kentucky statute providing that an employee is entitled to possess a handgun on company property so long as that gun is kept in the car. In this case, an employee removed the gun from the car, and thereby moving himself outside of the law’s protection.  Holly v. UPS Supply Chain Solutions,, Inc., No. 16-5337 (6^th Cir March 2, 2017).

      Holly was an employee of UPS Supply Chain Solutions. One day, while driving to work, he experienced car troubles. His manager gave him permission to leave work and take the vehicle to a repair shop, sending along another member of management to drive Holly back to work.

       Holly’s car, however, contained a handgun in the center console. “Because Holly did not want to leave his handgun in the car while it was at the shop, he asked a subordinate employee, Kenneth Moore (who was working at the time, if he could store the gun in Moore's vehicle while it was being repaired. Moore agreed, and, in the UPS SCS parking lot, Holly removed the gun from his car and placed it in Moore's.” Slip op. at 2. Moore, however, became uncomfortable with the idea of having the gun in his car, and reported it to a supervisor. Later, UPS security became aware of the incident and ultimately terminated Holly's employment. One of the bases for that termination was his request that Moore do him a favor on company time, a rationale later expanded to include “that the reasons for Holly’s termination were: (1) misusing company time; (2) exhibiting poor decision-making skills; (3) putting a subordinate in an awkward and potentially risky position; and (4) general performance issues.” Holly then brought suit on the basis that his termination violated Kentucky's public policy as set forth in KRS §§ 527.020 and 237.106. The former statute provides in part:

No person, public or private, shall prohibit a person licensed to carry a concealed deadly weapon from possessing a firearm, ammunition, or both, or other deadly weapon in his or her vehicle in compliance with the provisions of KRS 237.110 and 237.115.

       In turn, KRS § 237.110 provides, in part, that a private employer “may not prohibit employees or other persons holding a concealed deadly weapons license from carrying concealed deadly weapons, or ammunition, or both in vehicles owned by the employee.” The majority of the Sixth Circuit panel (Judge Rogers would file a dissent) found the statute inapplicable in that the gun at issue was not in Holly's vehicle, but rather had been transferred to Moore's. Hence, in effect, rather than on having a handgun in his own vehicle at the employer's worksite, Holly had his own handgun in Moore's vehicle, and in that action the statute did not protect.